


Suddenly I'm Holding the World in My Arms

by fairycat



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: F/M, First Dance, Hadie headcanons (Disney), Song Lyrics, Wedding Fluff, event planner Evie, event planner Jane, functional Mal/Ben (Disney), regretful Mal (Disney)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:14:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22962262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairycat/pseuds/fairycat
Summary: Hades knows the perfect song for Mal and Ben’s first dance.
Relationships: Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Eurydice/Orpheus (Hadestown), Hades & Mal (Disney)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 74





	Suddenly I'm Holding the World in My Arms

**Author's Note:**

> The Hades in this story is a combination of the one in Descendants and the one in Hadestown.
> 
> Other characters mentioned in this fic but not strongly involved in the story include Jay, Carlos, Lonnie, Gil, Harry, Uma, Doug, Belle, Beast, Celia, Freddie, Hadie, Yen Sid, and the Smee family.
> 
> The song featured in this fic is "All I've Ever Known" from the musical Hadestown. Check out the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj2hyoe805c

A few months before the wedding, Mal and Jane were at Evie’s “starter castle” discussing wedding details. Evie’s binder was full of venue drawings colored in purple and blue with pale yellow accents.

“Mal?”

Jane shrieked at the sudden noise.

Mal didn't have to look up to know who had spoken. “Hi, Dad.” Her father had a terrible habit of appearing wherever and whenever he wanted to.

“Hades!” Evie exclaimed. “Who . . . who do you have with you?”

Mal finally looked up. Each of her father’s hands held a person’s hand in a death grip. No, they weren’t quite people. Their colors were faded. They had small, pitiful, fluttering bat wings sprouting from their backs.

These were souls.

“Mal, Evie, Jane, allow me to introduce Orpheus and Eurydice.” Hades gestured to each of the souls in turn. The male soul, Orpheus, held a guitar and red flower close to his suspenders and baggy white shirt. The female soul, Eurydice, wore a long winter coat over a pair of overalls, plus heavy braces around her ankles.

“Orpheus here--” Hades continued, clapping the soul on the back a little too hard, “--is a wonderful singer and musician. No surprise, of course. His mother is the muse Calliope. That makes _him_ . . .” Hades ruffled Orpheus’s hair. “. . . our distant cousin. And this lovely little songbird is his wife, Eurydice. Or at least she was for a little while. Tragic, what happened to her. To the both of them.”

The souls’ faces turned miserable, earning a concerned whimper from Jane.

Mal crossed her arms. “Why did you bring them here?”

“I thought Orpheus could sing at your wedding, Mally,” said Hades. “Actually, both of them have a wonderful song they sing together that would be perfect for your first dance with the boy king.” He placed a hand to his heart. “It gets me every time. It’s one of my favorites by Orpheus.”

Mal didn’t move a muscle. Her dad was Lord of the Underworld, a massive dork, and a punk rocker going through a midlife crisis. His taste in music was bound to be unsuitable for her royal Auradon wedding.

Evie placed a gentle hand on Mal’s chin. “Let’s give this a chance,” she said. She turned to Hades and asked, “What is the song called?”

Orpheus answered in a faint, plaintive tenor. “It’s called ‘All I’ve Ever Known.’ May we perform it for you?”

Mal rolled her eyes. “Sure. Whatever.”

Orpheus played a few opening chords on his guitar, and the young women relaxed despite themselves. Eurydice began singing, her voice faint at first, but strengthening quickly as Orpheus played. Tears trickled down her face between verses, but her voice never faltered.

Orpheus’s singing was even more lovely than Eurydice’s (which, perhaps, was to be expected from the son of a muse). His voice was bright and he managed to smile. The inanimate objects in the room seemed to smile in reply. Then, when the two souls turned to face each other and sing together, the ceiling seemed to open and let the sunlight stream into the room without damaging the delicate fabrics.

It was a shock, then, to see Orpheus and Eurydice bear expressions of misery and regret as Orpheus played a tender instrumental. Tears streamed down their faces as they sang the final verses of the song.

The room fell silent.

Tears streamed down Mal’s face. “I think it's perfect.”

* * *

The day of the wedding was the most hectic Mal had ever seen in Auradon since Ben’s coronation. Just like then, all eyes and all cameras were on her and Ben, but this time she was there without any ulterior motive. She wondered what her mother would think. Would she be proud that her daughter was marrying the King of Auradon, or disappointed because it was for love?

Mal walked to the front of the cathedral sanctuary with her father. He wore a dark pinstripe suit rather than his usual Isle-edgy fashion. She smiled at him.

After Mal and Ben had talked it over with each other, with Evie, and with Jane, they had decided on purple and blue with yellow accents for the wedding. The colors suited the bridesmaids and groomsmen well. Mal wasn't sure what was stranger: Lonnie in a dress as deeply purple as Maleficent’s scales, or Jay and Gil pulling their hair back with bright yellow hair ties.

Her eyes met Ben’s. He was standing in between his parents, and tears were streaming down his face. Mal melted. She felt a kiss atop her head. She felt her father’s hand disappear from her shoulder. She felt Ben take her hands,

“Who gives this woman to be wed?” asked the Fairy Godmother.

Hades gave an exaggerated bow. “That would be me.”

Mal nodded to Fairy Godmother, who murmured, “Don’t worry, don’t worry, child.” She went on to gesture to Ben and ask, “And who gives this man to be wed?”

A few of the older Auradonians squirmed in their seats and whispered among themselves. Belle and Beast simply stepped forward and said, “We do.”

Fairy Godmother smiled and proceeded with officiating the wedding. She guided the young couple in exchanging rings and vows. When they kissed, their friends all cheered.

It was a bit of a struggle to get through photos, given that Mal, the boys, and on one occasion Uma, couldn't resist making faces. By the time the wedding party arrived at the reception, all the guests were already eating. The bride and groom barely had time to eat before various guests came by to chat. Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Jane tried to redirect the guests’ attention. At a few points, Harry got so annoyed that he threatened a few overbearing Auradonians until Uma told him to stop.

At the side of the dance floor, Hades adjusted the shadowy formal outfits on Orpheus and Eurydice. He waved to Jane, who rushed over to speak with them.

Jane tapped on a microphone to draw everyone’s attention. “Hi, everyone. It's time for the newlywed couple’s first dance, but the rest of you can keep eating if you want. King Ben, Queen Mal, the dance floor is all yours for now.” Jane scurried back to her seat.

“Thank you, Jane,” Ben said.

All eyes on the newlywed couple as they headed to the dance floor. Would Mal ever get used to this? She pulled her attention away from the cameras and to the performers. Eurydice’s dress was long, but her ankle braces made clunky shapes beneath the fabric. Why was she still wearing them? Couldn't she take them off? Mal shivered.

Ben pulled closer to his wife. “I'm here, Mal,” he whispered. As Orpheus played the opening chords on his guitar, the newlywed couple began to slow dance. The shades’ performance entranced every guest at the wedding reception.

_I was alone so long, I didn’t even know that I was lonely  
Out in the cold so long, I didn’t even know that I was cold  
Turn my collar to the wind  
This is how it's always been_

Mal shivered and drew closer to Ben. She tried to push away the memories of insufferably cold winter nights on the Isle, of hiding any sign of familial or friendly or romantic love, of wishing she didn’t have to rely on fear to get her way. She was still working through all the trauma, all the guilt for not being what her mother wanted her to be, all the broken relationships from being a frankly terrible person on the Isle.

_You take me in your arms and suddenly there’s sunlight all around me  
Everything bright and warm, and shining like it never did before  
And for a moment I forget just how dark and cold it gets_

Dancing here in Auradon with Ben in her arms, her father openly showing his love for her, her friends smiling and safe and gathered here to support her, felt so much better than she could ever have imagined during those sixteen years. She could never really forget that time in her life, not for more than a moment, so Eurydice’s words rang true:

_I don't wanna go back to the lonely life_

Mal glanced over Ben’s shoulder at her Isle friends. She could tell from their expressions they were thinking along the same lines. Jay, who stuck by her side since they were young. Evie and Carlos, who only ever got into fights because they adored Mal and Jay. Hadie, the half-brother she never really talked to before, who had joined Yen Sid’s Anti-Heroes Club back on the Isle and now grew real fruits and vegetables in his mother’s garden. Freddie, who also joined the Anti-Heroes Club and maintained connections wherever she went. Celia, who openly loved her family and defied anyone to call her weak. Uma, Harry, and Gil, who made a home on their ship and welcomed so many VKs onto it so the Isle didn’t have to be “the lonely life” for everyone.

_I don’t know how or why, but who am I that I should get to hold you?_

Just like at Evie’s house, Orpheus’s voice cast a special spell on the whole room, bringing tears to many listeners’ eyes. Also, just as Eurydice’s lyrics spoke to Mal, a few of Orpheus’s lyrics resonated with Ben.

_I knew you before we met, and I don’t even know you yet  
All I know is you’re someone I have always known_

Ben smiled, remembering the dreams he had about Mal so long ago. Had it been fancy or fate? He figured it didn't matter. Everything worked out in the end, just like in the stories.

His eyes happened to drift toward the Smee family, eating piles of food in front of them as if they wouldn't get to eat for several weeks after the wedding. _Okay_ , he thought, checking himself, _maybe not everything has worked out yet. My work as the king still continues._

During the instrumental, the newlyweds stepped into a ballroom dance that Ben had given a crash course on to Mal in the months before their wedding. Mal, still unsure about the whole ballroom dance thing, stole glances at their feet several times. Despite the music’s supernatural power, she couldn't help but laugh as a few Auradonians scoffed and gasped at the tiny VK lifting their king a few inches off the ground for a mere second or two. However, the next syllable out of Eurydice’s mouth silenced everyone.

_Say that you’ll hold me forever  
Say that the wind won’t change on us  
Say that we’ll stay with each other  
And it will always be like this_

Ben pulled Mal closer to her. The bride and groom murmured the song’s final lines together.

_I’m gonna hold you forever  
The wind will never change on us  
As long as we stay with each other  
Then it will always be like this_


End file.
